Graduates returning to the nest, a new start for all!

[VanCleefArpels]

Carrying on from the 2019/20 Uni students thread let’s talk about what it’s like to have our fresh graduates home, for some of us invading our nice empty nest, for all of us creating a new household dynamic…….

Ah @ZandathePanda congratulations to your DD!
DD has moved into a flat in Clapham, London with 3 uni friends just 2 weeks ago. She started her job in London in a August commuted for a few weeks as it’s wfh 2 days. She’s loving London life and her birthday today is being spent swanking around Chelsea having brunch!
Good luck to your Dd!

@Benjispruce4 ah congratulations to your Dd too! I have just realised you lot are on a higher education thread too. Which is the best one to still keep in touch?

This one I think @ZandathePanda . As this was set up to replace the other.

How is your DD2 doing? She did very well with her A levels didn’t she?

Dd2 did very well. She isn’t going to Uni due to her health but hope your Dd2 is doing well at Uni. There’s a few of us with 3 school years and I thought I had missed out on the stress of ALevel GCSE combo but I forgot about Finals ALevel combo. I am a lot greyer!

Well done to your DD @ZandathePanda .i smiled at your comment about the stuff in the garage. I've just been doing the same thing. Mine had a large bag of winter clothing and told me that they were all clean, but decided a couple of days ago that they smell of musty cupboards and all need to be rewashed! The garage still has a large amount of random things in it. No idea what I am supposed to do with it..

Well done to your DD Zanda!
Oh to have a garage to store stuff in - we chucked DSs old bedding (was old stuff from home, not well looked after!) but as he’s living at home for the foreseeable, it’s not needed 😃

@Benjispruce4 Happy Birthday to your DD!
DS is having a short hol with his gf - first in 4 years.

Well, DS has been working for a month now and seems to be settling in well and enjoying it - he was especially happy when he got his first pay day!
He paid a visit to his uni city this weekend to meet up with a few people who are on a 4th year. Got back late last night and I think getting up for work this morning was a bit of a struggle!
He’s generally a fairly easy going person so it’s not been too difficult having him around, but he could def remember to do his washing sometimes and help out a bit more generally!
How’s everyone else getting in?

In spite of DD's CFS she enjoyed her first week at work. The hours are long - 9 am to 6pm with just a 20 minute lunch break, which I think is rather brutal. They have a staff retention issue, but the people are nice, and they let her have little breaks if she needs them. This job will look good on her CV and will probably help her get on to a masters course.

DD really enjoying her job and has made contacts within the organisation via training sessions that may be useful as she wants to move from a generalist to a specialist department eventually. One week in 4 she has a very early start which is a bit brutal for a natural sleepy head (!) but is getting on well with a couple of other young new starters so the beginnings of a new more local social circle which is great. Financially, now the student overdraft has gone she has started saving half her salary but I can’t see her moving out any time soon as we live in a v expensive area and her public sector pay isn’t going to increase quickly!!

@blametheparents DD has been back in Uni city a couple of times now and it has emphasised to her how much her life has moved on. It’s tricky with a foot in each world as it were

@VanCleefArpels - DS and his uni friends did go out, but they also watched a football game on Sky (which they would always have done together) and also went to the gym a couple of times too so I think that felt like old times!
But I do agree, that as time goes it it becomes more apparent that things are changing.

I was explaining to DS how I bought my first house with my boyfriend 8 months after leaving uni on a joint salary of £33k and a house value of £71k - so a mortgage of roughly double our joint salary. No way is that possible nowadays. Our young people will have to save so hard.

Dd is enjoying her job and has officially moved out, renting a bus journey from her work. I never went back to living with my parents but my boyfriend’s first house I lived in was £39,000. Same house is £160,000 now. Nightmare for getting on the housing ladder.

@ZandathePanda - Just checked Rightmove and the same style house , in the same road, that I bought for £71k is up for £375k!!!

Yes I did that when you said about your house! Should have kept it and bought another if we’d known!

Some of us still have a DC at uni, final year, so not sure whether this thread is still the best for us. However, it is really heartening to read of DC who have successfully embarked on their careers.

As usual my DS's restart at uni has not been without problems. He was happy to be going back (though lectures are still online!) and then managed to wreck his laptop on the way to a seminar group by cycling in one of the monumental showers of last week with an inadequately waterproof backpack. Who knew?!
He has had to buy a new one, obviously, as pen and paper doesn't cut it these days.

@simbobs sorry to hear that your DS wrecked his laptop. I guess he's learned the hard way that most rucksacks (unless you buy an expensive one for camping/trekking) aren't properly waterproofed. But who knew? What a total PITA.

There is still the other thread which probably better suits your needs?

I get the feeling that DS is unlikely to ever set foot in his former uni city again! It's a bit sad really.

DD on her way back from a 4 day team build in Barcelona.5 star resort no less! She couldn’t quite believe the she could claim expenses after years of student life.
Glad your DD is coping so far @RampantIvy though I don’t think a 20min lunch is acceptable, CFS or not!

How fab @Benjispruce4!

I’d like a 20min lunch 😀

How are all our young people getting on, particularly those who have moved into house-shares?

DS has nearly completed the training to get to the next level with his fill-in role. I think at the moment it's suiting him fine, and means he can go and stay with his g/f as and when. It doesn't entirely feel as if he's transitioned to adult life yet but there are decades of that ahead, so can't blame him.

Hi @LouisCatorze I must’ve sensed your post as haven’t looked in on this thread for a while. DH and I are going to see DD tomorrow and take her out for dinner. Haven’t seen her since she moved down about 6/7 weeks ago so will be nice . She’s been very busy at work and socialising so nothing has changed much for her. How’s everyone else getting on?

DD is enjoying her job and is getting on well with her workmates. The hours are very long, and when HR emailed her to ask how she was getting on she said she loved the job, but requested if she could reduce her hours. A 45 hour week is not good for her CFS.

They responded straight away with yes, so they must like her. So, now she works a 4 day week.

DD had her first day working at home this week -she had to do half her probation period before being allowed to do this so felt like a milestone! It was also one of my work at home days and DH WFH permanently and I found myself cursing at the glitchy broadband - like the worst days of the lockdowns when there were 4 of us all online 🤣

@RampantIvy that sounds much better and well done her for conducting herself to get to the position that she can reduce her hours. Relief for you too.

Thank you @ZandathePanda. I hope DD2 is OK. She did so amazingly well in her A levels.